


Waiting here for Evermore

by summerrain24601



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-01
Updated: 2017-12-01
Packaged: 2019-02-09 02:19:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12878106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/summerrain24601/pseuds/summerrain24601
Summary: "You've been through a lot since stumbling out of that rift last year. I think anyone would be stressed out after all that. But you? You're too good at pretending to be okay. Other people would've broken a long time ago.""Other people don't have such amazing friends.""Don't sell yourself short. If you weren't the person you are, you wouldn't have done so well. But even the best of heroes need a break sometimes."





	Waiting here for Evermore

**Author's Note:**

> In which Varric shows his soft side.

"Why would I leave now?" he asked, giving the ambassador an incredulous look. "Have you seen that girl recently? She's just been going through the motions ever since Chuckles vanished. It's been months since I've seen her smile."

"Perhaps she will open up more to you than she will to us," Josephine admitted. "Her relationship with us, as her advisors, always has seemed to be strictly professional." Despite the game of Wicked Grace and the accompanying stories they'd shared. 

"Exactly what I mean Ruffles," the dwarf responded. "Did you know she used to make up melodies when we were busy wandering around southern Thedas? Most of them never had words, but she'd just start humming in the middle of setting up camp or when we were stuck walking for hours."

"I didn't," she admitted after a moment. "It's a rather cute image, I must admit." 

"But after he left, she just stopped," he admitted. "She got all quiet, and she doesn't talk to anyone unless she has to. It's got me worried." He sighed softly. "Honestly, I need to find some heroes to follow that don't fall for angsty elves…" he muttered, turning to walk back out to the main hall. Josephine laughed softly and went back to the paperwork on her desk. 

And nobody had seen the elf in question in days. But he had an idea as to where she'd gone, so he took one of the ponies from the stables(because the horses were all simply too tall for him) and made his way down the mountain, to the site of the final battle against Corypheus. He found the stairs they'd watched her descend that day, and made his way up. 

When he came up and over the top of the stairs, he saw her holding one half of the orb in each hand, with her back to him. He couldn't tell what she was thinking since he couldn't see her face, but the tension in her shoulders said a lot. For a moment, she brought the two halves together, trying to get them to fit. When they didn't, both were tossed back to the ground, hard. For the orb's worth, the halves just clattered on the stone and harmlessly rolled off a ways.

"Damn it!" she yelled, her voice cracking. She looked up at the sky, where the scar from the Breach glimmered above their heads. "Why…?" She fell to her knees, bringing her hands up to cover her face, or so he guessed. He slowly approached her, only to find that she had dissolved into tears, which he had never seen before. He had never seen her show weakness like this before, even when she'd told them about the mirrors. She'd always put up a front, hiding the truth so they wouldn't worry. The bald elf had been the only one she'd shown this other side to, but now he was gone. 

"Aw, kid…" he said with a sigh before pulling her to him. On her knees like this, it was possible. He just stood there with his arms around her shoulders as she cried herself out. Maybe Josephine had been right after all. "You shouldn't keep things all bottled up like this, you know," he said gently. Moments like this reminded him how young she really was. Most of the Inquisition, save the foot soldiers, were all older than her. And still, she had led them through everything. 

When she pushed lightly against his chest, he let go. She put one hand on the ground and used the other to wipe the tear tracks from her cheeks. "Sorry…" she muttered. 

"Shit, don't apologize," he said softly. "You've been through a lot since stumbling out of that rift last year. I think anyone would be stressed out after all that. But you? You're too good at pretending to be okay. Other people would've broken a long time ago."

She sniffled before looking over at him. "Other people don't have such amazing friends," she admitted after a moment. He gave her a wry grin. 

"Don't sell yourself short. If you weren't the person you are, you wouldn't have done so well," he reminded her. "But even the best of heroes need a break sometimes." She looked down at her hands, clasped into fists on her knees, and her shoulders began to shake again. 

"Did it feel like this when… when Bianca married someone else?" she asked him suddenly. He blinked at her, then sighed. 

"You're too damn perceptive, you know that?" he muttered, running a hand through his hair. "But yeah, sort of like this." He put his arms around her shoulders again as the tears began again. "Except that I usually know where she is. And when I don't, I know how to track her down." This time, she cried quietly, listening to him as he talked, and then to the world around them as he fell silent.

"He warned me, you know," she admitted finally. "First, he said it might lead to trouble, when he said he needed time to think. That was right after we found Skyhold." She picked up the nearest orb half and held it in her lap. "And later, we were talking on my balcony when he began to walk away… and I stopped him. He said… _It would be kinder in the long run._ I think he had always planned on leaving after Corypheus was gone…" She shook her head and wiped her eyes again. "He tried to warn me, and I ignored it. And then we were both too far gone." She yawned widely.

"Let's get back to Skyhold before you fall asleep," Varric said gently. "I know elves are light, but you're too tall for me to drag you anywhere." She put the orb piece back onto the stone before getting to her feet. "And, you know, nobody can tell you when to move on," he added as he clambered into the pony's saddle. "You have to decide that for yourself. However long it takes depends on you, not them." When their eyes met, he saw the corners of her eyes crinkle and the corners of her mouth turn up slightly. It wasn't a full-on grin or anything, and nothing even remotely close to the witty retorts she'd made that had reminded him so much of a certain other mage friend of his, but it was definitely an improvement over the last few months. 

"Varric… thanks," she said as she mounted her hart. 

"No problem, kid."

**Author's Note:**

> The idea for this one came from the song "Evermore" in the live action Beauty and the Beast. I felt like it kind of fit an Inquisitor that expressed her love to Solas during the final romance scene instead of getting mad at him.


End file.
